Former New Zealand fast bowler Heath Davis publicly announces himself to be gay

New Delhi: Former New Zealand fast bowler Heath Davis has publicly come out as gay and is the country’s first international cricketer to make this public announcement. Heath Davis is one of the greatest fast bowlers New Zealand has ever produced. He has played five Tests and 11 One Day International (ODI) for his team between 1994 and 1997. Besides, in his Test career, he took 17 wickets in five matches and garnered 11 wickets in ODIs.

Now, a decade after his Test debut, Davis for the first time revealed his sexual identity in an episode of a documentary series named ‘Scratched: Aotearoa’s Lost Sporting Legends.’ He stated to The Spinoff that it was in 1994, during his first tour to England when he started to discover himself, however, he told his mother at an early age that he was gay.

“The first tour to England [in 1994], I was starting to discover myself, was going to a few bars and things privately to see what life was… well, you are on the other side of the world, no one is going to know you. I left that part of my life there. There was a lot of that, just keeping your personal life separate,” he said.

The 50-year-old cricketer also talked up about the “lonely” experience of living separate lives on and off the field until he moved from Wellington to Auckland.

“It was lonely. Going to saunas and seedy places to get sex because you didn’t want to be seen and that sort of stuff. I had systems and people in place where I could talk about these things but I didn’t feel comfortable,” added Davis.

Davis further stated in the documentary that he went into his first gay relationship when he was 27 years old when he was playing with Wellington. However, the couple was hesitant to appear in public. Besides, after an offer of a contract came from Auckland, he saw an opportunity to move away from the city. Later his shift, he told his new team manager that he was gay and the team was informed. However, it “didn’t seem to be that big an issue,” with the team.

Notably, according to ESPN, before Davis, it was the former England wicketkeeper Steven Davies 2011 who announced himself to be gay.